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India’s southern city of Hyderabad is becoming one of India’s most potent symbols of the greed and corruption that link politicians and businessmen. For the third time in a year, the state has been rocked by a crisis that exposes those linkages – this time over whether Andhra Pradesh should be split in two with the creation of a new state of Telangana based around Hyderabad (white area in map below). 

This is a far cry from the glory and international fame of the past 15 or so years when this prosperous capital of the state of Andhra Pradesh became an international symbol of India’s dramatic growth in software, second only to Bangalore as a thriving location for information technology investment. Companies located there include Google and Microsoft, and Bill Clinton visited as US president. 

click map to enlarge

 The first of the state’s crises came a year ago with the collapse of Satyam, a leading Hyderabad-based software company that was owned by the family of its then chairman, Ramalinga Raju. The Rajus were closely linked with various politicians, including the state’s Congress chief minister, Y S Rajasekhar Reddy (YSR), who died in a helicopter crash in September, as well as his predecessor, Chandrababu Naidu. 

Politicians are widely believed to have invested their black money in both Satyam and in Maytas Infrastructure, an associated company that received favours on contracts from the state government and drained funds out of Satyam. Both companies (Satyam has now been sold) are now being investigated for massive fraud, and Raju has been detained in jail since January. 

Next came YSR’s sudden death and an immediate attempt by his politically inexperienced 37-year old son, Y.S.Jaganmohan Reddy, to become the chief minister. Jaganmohan, who had built a substantial business empire since his father came to power in 2004, was frenetically backed in a campaign by local businessmen who wanted to protect deals they had struck with his father and to be able to replicate them in the future. 

As Bharat Bhushan, editor of India’s Mail Today, put it in an article (“Money backs ‘Son-rise’ in Andhra” – Oct 3, 2009) that listed many company names, YSR secured the loyalty of his supporters not by giving them lucrative government jobs, which is common practice across the country, but by facilitating opportunities for developing new businesses, especially  in booming Hyderabad. 

“YSR converted his key supporters into businessmen, industrialists, contractors and realtors,” wrote Bhushan. “Their loyalty to the party, or the leader, was based on pure economic interest. YSR rewarded them with contracts in state sponsored irrigation projects…….highway projects, real estate activities, development of Special Economic Zones, land grants and housing schemes in urban as well as rural areas…… 

“It has taken decades for Indian entrepreneurs like the Tatas, Birlas, Ambanis and Bajajs to convert family businesses into billion dollar corporations. The Congress Party under YSR in Andhra showed us that this could be done in barely five years.” 

These are the businessmen who are now resisting the demands for a Telangana state. Coming from Andhra’s coastal regions, they mostly belong to the Reddy and Kamma upper castes that must now be ranked along with India’s more famous business castes and communities such as the Marwaris of the north and the Chettiars of the south. 

They fear that the dispute will lead to a crash in Hyderabad real estate values and a cutback on infrastructure projects – and that they might be driven out of the capital by the new Telangana rulers. 

Among the most powerful anti-Telangana politicians is Lagadapati Rajagopal, founder-chairman of the rapidly growing Lanco infrastructure, power and construction group and a Congress MP, whose development plans in and around Hyderabad would be hit hard if the state split. Another MP with powerful Delhi connections is T.Subbarami Reddy, whose Gayatri group has many infrastructure projects. Another businessman who would lose from a split is Andhra-born G.M.Rao, founder-chairman of  the Bangalore-based GMR group that built Hyderabad airport and controversially has 5,000 of acres around the site waiting for development, as well as many other projects. National and local politicians are widely believed to have invested in such companies.  

The Telangana claim 

The Telangana people’s wish for some sort of constitutional identity has been around for over 50 years, and has been fudged and rebuffed by successive Indian governments. But last week (December 9) the central government gave way and agreed to create Telangana in order to end a fast by a local politician and activist, K. Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR), leader of Telangana Rashtriya Samiti, who was risking his life to revive his crumbling political image. 

That humane but politically clumsy decision led to violent demonstrations in Hyderabad, plus resignation threats by about half the members of the legislative assembly. This paralysed the state government and sparked follow-on bifurcation claims from other states all over India. 

But observers of India’s frequently muddled and confusing political scene need not fear any imminent Balkanisation of India’s 28 states. Having prevented the death of the fasting politician, the government is back to fudge, and hopes to stall the Telangana claims indefinitely, maybe even until the state’s next assembly elections in 2014. Meanwhile, other states’ claims to be split will be examined, and some may push ahead a little – but there is no crisis, despite blanket and over-excited media coverage. 

Unlike most other bifurcation claims, the battle over Telangana is about wealth, not language or ethnic divisions, nor dramatic differences in geography. It would also the first time that the capital of a state has gone with the new entity – normally the breakaway has to start afresh. 

The people of coastal Andhra have benefited economically since the days of British rule when there was extensive investment in irrigation, but the Telangana region lagged behind under the thumb of the Nizam of Hyderabad. When Hyderabad began to flourish in the 1990s as an IT centre, wealthy landowners from the coastal region flocked to the city to develop real estate and infrastructure projects, lining up with local politicians such as YSR and his cronies to secure contracts and licences. This is the wealth that they fear the creation of Telangana would put at risk. 

The reputation of Hyderabad and Andhra has been severely damaged by this series of crises. It is causing concern among both Indian and international investors who had not known – or had ignored – the political-business linkages and scams. 

The state now has an uncertain political future. The death of YSR has removed an able political leader who, despite his business links and cronyism, was an effective Congress chief minister. Now the Congress Party is split over who his successor should be, as well as over the Telangana issue. And, of course,  politicians’ fixing of contracts and projects for the benefit of themselves and their cronies is visible for all to see. 

The government on Tuesday approved six proposals for setting up of SEZs, including gems and jewellery SEZ by Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation. The Board of Approval (BoA) in commerce ministry also gave in-principle approval to two proposals, including that of Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd for copper SEZ in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, a statement said.

In total, 10 new SEZ proposals were considered by the BoA. The BoA gave its nod to two proposals of Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. The Corporation had requested for an IT SEZ and gems and jewellery SEZ at Baprola in New Delhi.

Lanco Solar Pvt Ltd got approval for solar tax-free enclave, which would be set up in Cuttak, Orissa. The government approves the IT/ITeS tax-free zone of Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society Ltd at Kozhikode, Kerala.

Source : TNN  16/12/09

The regulations, which were prepared by the Ministry of Economy change the current limits and area of the zones. Due to the changes the area of the Katowice SEZ will be bigger by near 373.5 ha and the Warmia-Mazury SEZ by around 43 ha. Part of the area incorporated in the Katowice SEZ has already been assigned concrete investment projects which are to be located in the lots. There are plans to build a bumper car producing facility in the Rudziniec community and a glassworks in Częstochowa.

The change in the zones’ limits should in the long run contribute to generate around 19,000 workplaces. It is estimated that the area which is to be incorporated in the Warmia-Mazury SEZ will accommodate investment worth around PLN 300 million and offer employment to 500 people. In this casa there also are concrete plans for the development of the new lots i.e. in the commune of Piecki investors plan to construct a furniture factory and in Ciechanów a meat processing and poultry product plant.

The International Campaign Against Forced Displacement and SEZs launched in June 2008 during the Third International Assembly of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) urgently call on all people’s movements, activists and allies to protest against the arrest of Abhaya Sahoo. Sahoo is President of POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (POSCO Resistance Struggle Committee), which has been leading the people’s movement against a big land grab in the state of Orissa by POSCO, a South Korean steel company. Sahoo was arrested on the evening of 12th October while undergoing treatment in a local hospital. Villagers under the leadership of Abhaya Sahoo have rejected the government’s “development plan,” the first step of which is giving 4,000 acres of land to POSCO to build a huge steel plant and captive port that will displace 7 villages and 22,000 people. In addition to the farmers who will be displaced, thousands of fishermen and villagers in the port area will lose their livelihoods if this project goes ahead. For three years, POSCO has been trying, unsuccessfully, to acquire the farmers’ land. Many protests and rallies have been organised by the villagers against the project. Farmers have kept the company from establishing offices in the villages, and have set up “check gates” at the entrances to the villages to check on the identification of outsiders and to prevent POSCO from starting to survey and demarcate the land. Blocked in its land acquisition efforts, POSCO has hired outside goons to destabilize the situation and provide a pretext to bring in police and paramilitaries. Abhaya Sahoo has been in the forefront of the uncompromising resistance of the people of the village of Erressema to save their land. For the last 3 years he has resided in the project site. The Orissa government has arrested him to make the people leaderless, and have charged him under about 70 false cases so that he cannot get bail. We condemn this repressive act by the Orissa government. The arrest of Abhaya Sahoo is an attempt to suppress the people’s struggle. Stand with the people of Erressema who are fighting to save their land and livelihood and demand the IMMEDIATE AND UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE of ABHAYA SAHOO. The International Campaign against Forced Displacement and SEZs info@no2displacement.com

El primer puerto catalogado como Zona Económica Especial, podría comenzar a desarrollarse en breve. Comprendería 276 hectáreas cerca de Belpada-Karal, en la carretera Panvel-Uran ( Maharashtra, Mumbai ). “Hemos llevado a cabo un estudio de viabilidad sobre el proyecto y ha sido aprobado por unanimidad” dice S.S.Hussain, presidente de la Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), organismo gestor del proyecto.

Existen tres posibilidades: desarrollo sólo por el JNPT, desarrollo conjunto con una empresa privada o directamente adjudicar el proyecto entero a una empresa privada.

Hussain también ha aclarado que la ZEE tendrá unidades de procesamiento de cargas en concordancia con el próximo desarrollo del proyecto del aeropuerto de Navi Mumbai. “Será el primer centro de estas características en India”, dijo, añadiendo que una vez que las formalidades estén resueltas, el gobierno se asegurará que se lleve a cabo bajo unos plazos concretos.

EL desarrollo de la ZEE podría generar 30.000 puestos de trabajo en los sectores del cuero, plástico, electrónica y mueble. “Habrá un parque logístico y de hardware y se tratarán de cubrir las necesidades de servicios de IT”.

Fuente: The Times of India  (OFECOMES) 12/11/09

Special Residential Zones on the lines of SEZs could offer a solution to the growing problem of housing in India.

It is well documented and understood that India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world along with being one of the most populated. The urban population of India is likely to grow from 285.3 million in 2001 (Census 2001) to 360 million in 2010, 410 million in 2015, 468 million in 2020 and 533 million in 2025, as per the projections based on historical growth pattern of population (1901 – 2001)….

The sheer growth of the economy combined with rapid urbanisation of the population has created conditions that lead to a housing price rise. Urbanisation of this scale needs to be supported by adequate living conditions for this newly urbanised segment and going forward quite clearly, the time is right for the government to take meaningful steps to create a policy which addresses and channels this growth in the right direction.
The Special Residential Zones (SRZ) proposal provides a compelling concrete framework that is both ethically and economically pleasing to all the participants concerned including the family that receives the benefits of improved, affordable living conditions. Fortunately, India has a workable model in place in the form of Special Economic Zones (SEZs), albeit not in the housing space, which I believe can be effectively applied with some modifications to the current situation.

The basic purpose of an SEZ is to bring in economic prosperity to the region by creating conditions that attract establishments to set up organized commercial micro markets. These conditions in the form of waiver of various duties, exemptions from taxes, State and Central levies create the right reward management systems which motivate Investors, Developers, State and Central Governments as well as other beneficiaries to invest in land-use plans and contribute directly to the economic property of the region.

By any measure, this tax component is prohibitive and acts as a significant barrier for parties interested in developing large-scale housing projects for the cost-conscious urbanized mass market wishing to relocate. Yes, there are large-scale housing projects being created but these are targeted towards the affluent segment, which can afford to buy houses at the current market value which I have already mentioned, are out of reach for a majority of the population.

Any attempt in creating low cost housing projects in the current market situation ultimately leads to poor construction and infrastructure quality and lowered standard of living for the residents in question. The result: houses that are little more than concretized ghettos or slums.
Clearly, there is a need to create an economic vehicle that supports and receives the demand for good quality affordable housing to the basic definition and concept of an SRZ.

“A Special Residential Zone (SRZ) is a notified geographical region that is free of domestic taxes, levies and duties (both for the creation of, operation and maintenance of the SRZ) with special development rules to promote large scale, greenfield, affordable housing projects for the country’s masses. The SRZ would have a prescribed minimum number of dwelling units with a maximum prescribed size, and each SRZ would require adequate social infrastructure including schools, medical facilities etc.

Put simply, an SRZ is a Special Zone which contains catchments of residential properties which have been accorded fiscal benefits in order to bring down the cost of housing and create a massive deliberate Urban Agglomeration that services the local commercial activity and vice versa. The key idea is to create an interdependent living system which is not only self-sufficient but also has the potential to grow and inject growth into geographical areas around the SRZ.

As the learnings of SEZs notified / functioning in India have already shown us, creating the right economic and regulatory environment can bring in rapid prosperity on a large scale. After the SEZ Act, 2005 came into force 405 SEZs totaling up to some 68,000 hectares (1, 86,320 acres) have been given formal approval. The learnings from the SEZs exercise thus far will be greatly advantageous to the creation of a SRZ ACT.

The massive growth of SEZs in such a relatively short period is made possible only by altering specific fiscal policies for the region and by simplifying the approval / sanction processes and in addition creating Single Window Clearance and Administration systems. In a similar fashion, if the government creates similar concessions to for specific geographic regions, earmarked for developing large sustainable developments of small residential units, it would result in a massive spatial reorganization of the urban population across the country that could be leveraged to positively grow the economy as a whole, in addition to bringing down the housing prices in the targetted segment.

New Delhi: Bucking the trend, exports from the country’s 101 operational special economies zones (SEZ) topped Rs 89,000 crore during the first six months (April-September) of the current financial year, compared to Rs 99,689 crore worth of exports in the entire 2008-09.

Out of the Rs 89,000 crore, around Rs 25,000 crore worth of exports took place from government SEZs, Rs 9,000 crore from state and private SEZs and the remaining approximately Rs 45, 000 crore from SEZs that are set up under the Act.

The total number of employees in various SEZs across the country also grew from 283,425 to 418,129.

“This clearly shows the growth of SEZs in the country and how are they helping in stabilising the country’s exports. SEZs go into long-term contracts unlike DTA (domestic tariff area) exporters where it is followed on the basis of per order,” said DK Mittal, additional secretary, Department of Commerce, after the meeting of the Board of Approval (BoA) here today.

The government is yet to ascertain the sectors that were the main drivers of growth, he said, adding that it was mainly the IT and manufacturing sectors that performed well during the period.

However, Mittal admitted that SEZs had also been affected due to the global slowdown and its exports had taken a hit with a number of developers approaching the ministry with de-notification or withdrawal request.

While no new proposals came on the table, BoA approved the cancellation of 10 SEZs in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal and Punjab.

Source : Business Standard. 09/11/09

Category: Free Porn Movies

Genre: Classic Sex, Perversions

Starring: Rita Faltoyano, Bobbi Eden, Lucky, Julia Taylor, Jessica May, Laura Angel

By Eve

Catatan: Artikel ini terinspirasi dari seorang teman, Lena/Nina yang baru saja berkunjung ke kota Beijing, bersama sang suami.. Dalam rangka Ulang Tahun ke 60 negara tersebut pada tanggal 1 Oktober 2009… -dN5

Artikel ini sendiri ditulis oleh seorang teman lain, Eve yang tinggal di Singapore, yang rajin menulis di beberapa situs blog di internet.

Di Abad ke-19, Inggris adalah salah satu Negara Adidaya. Slogan “Rule The Waves” sebenarnya menunjukkan betapa kuatnya angkatan laut Inggris pada waktu itu. Dengan armada kapal dan angkatan laut yang kuat ini, Inggris berlayar ke berbagai belahan dunia dan mendirikan serta memegang kendali ekonomi dan politk koloni-koloni tersebut.

Pada saat itu, Britain Ruled The Waves…

Kejayaan Inggris ini pada akhirnya sedikit demi sedikit mulai menurun. Salah satu event yang mengkontribusi melemahnya pengaruh Inggris di dunia internasional adalah munculnya USA dan berkembangnya paham liberalis yang mendorong kemerdekaan koloni-koloni Inggris. Hal ini memiliki dampak yang besar terhadap Inggris yang industrinya bergantung pada daerah jajahannya.

Setelah perang dunia ke-2, kekuasaan Inggris seakan-akan mulai berbagi ke USA sebelum pada akhirnya USA berkuasa penuh dan menjadi Negara adidaya.

USA rules the wave sampai akhirnya krisis global di penghujung tahun 2007 yang memporak porandakan ekonomi USA dan juga adanya momentum dimana China mulai bangkit dari tidurnya dan siap untuk menjadi the next super power…

China, berkat keuletan dan kegemaran menabung (yang mendarah daging bagi kebanyakan orang Chinese) merupakan negara dengan cadangan devisa terbesar, sekitar 2 triliyun US dolar atau 15% dari total GDP USA (~14 triliyun USD) dan setara dengan GDP Cina sendiri (~ 3 triliyun USD). Hal ini memungkinkan China untuk mem-finance US yang perekonomiannya sedang morat marit. Mem-finance di sini bisa diartikan memberikan pinjaman uang kepada USA, si Negara adidaya (yang suka main pinjam dan juga suka-suka mencetak uang..).

Cina yang di awal tahun 1970-an masih dipimpin oleh golongan marxis (paham komunis), Mao Zhedong, merupakan sebuah Negara tertutup, miskin dan rakyatnya banyak yang meninggal gara-gara kelaparan. Setelah Mao Zhedong lengser, dalam waktu kurang lebih 20 tahun Cina berkembang dengan sangat pesat. Puluhan juta rakyat Cina pun terangkat dari belenggu kemiskinan. Kemajuan Cina yang sangat pesat ini memang sebagian besar diperngaruhi oleh perubahan kepemimpinan, dimana setelah Mao Zhedong jatuh, seorang kapitalis Deng Xiaoping berhasil membawa ekonomi Cina seperti sekarang ini.

Di awal pemerintahannya, Deng membuka Cina secara bertahap, dimulai dari kota-kota di pantai selatan Cina seperti Shenzhen, Xiamen dan Zhuhai. Pada waktu itu ketiga daerah ini dinamai SEZ atau Special Economic Zone. Setelah terlihat kemajuan di ketiga tempat tersebut , semakin banyak daerah yang dijadikan SEZ, sebelum akhirnya sistem ekonomi terbuka diaplikasikan ke seluruh daerah di Cina. Sekarang ini, seperti kita ketahui, Cina merupakan negara dengan ekonomi terbesar ketiga (GDP), sesudah USA dan Jepang.

Kemajuan Cina juga tidak hanya terlihat dari segi ekonomi, tetapi juga segi teknologi dan inovasi. Akhir-akhir ini Cina diberitakan berhasil mengirim astronot ke luar angkasa dan bahkan katanya mereka pun sudah menemukan vaksin untuk flu babi/H1N1. Benar-benar kemajuan yang luar biasa.

Kembali ke masalah pinjam meminjam uang, seperti semboyan “Cash is King”, dengan meminta pinjaman dari Cina, bukan tidak mungkin bahwa Cina akan mulai mengontrol US seperti yang dilakukan US sendiri terhadap negara-negara dunia ketiga yang membutuhkan dana IMF dulu. “I help you, you must do and listen to what I say”.

Begitu zaman sudah berubah, now it’s time China Rules the Wave…….

Rasanya tidak terbayangkan kalau si bule, yang in the past looked down on Asian, sekarang harus tunduk kepada si pendek, bermata sipit dan berkulit kuning. Ras yang di Negara mereka sendiri (ABC) pun secara tidak langsung masih dianggap 2nd class dan sarat diskriminasi. Benar-benar si bule harus turun gengsi. Krisis ekonomi ini juga sudah mengajarkan kita bahwa roda kehidupan itu selalu berputar, terkadang di atas kadang di bawah, UK and US was Ruling the Waves,,….. but maybe now it’s time for China Rules the Wave.

Indonesia memulai pembangunan lebih awal daripada Cina, tapi sangat disayangkan bahwa saat ini, Indonesia masih jauh tertinggal dari Cina hampir di seluruh bidang, kecuali demokrasi. When Cina starts to Rule the Waves, Indonesia is still waiving some rules. Tapi bukan tidak mungkin, Indonesia yang kaya akan hasil alam dan berpenduduk banyak suatu saat pun juga bisa bangkit seperti Cina…

Saat ini, karena kemajuan ekonomi yang cepat , laju inflasi China yang sangat tinggi dan penguatan mata uang Yen menyebakan barang-barang China menjadi lebih mahal dibanding sebelumnya, begitu pula dengan gaji para pekerja dan biaya operasional sebuah perusahaan.

Bagi Indonesia ini adalah saat yang tepat untuk mulai berbenah diri , terutama dalam masalah birokrasi, dan belajar dari Cina serta Negara-negara maju di Asia Timur (Korsel, Taiwan, dan Jepang), agar di saat berbisnis di Cina sudah menjadi sangat mahal, Indonesia SIAP untuk dijadikan alternatif bagi para investor.

May someday Indonesia Rules the Wave…

(Sumber: koki-kolomkita.com)

Haven’t really been upto a great deal this week, but somehow it’s gone real quick. Work has been a nightmare this week, mainly cos I was off not Friday just gone but the Friday before. Have had it booked off for ages, after my bestie Sez told me it was for my birthday treat – we ended up going to see The Script at the O2 Academy in Birmingham! Had such an ace time, apart from the tall man in front, annoying 17 yr olds in front, and the man behind fainting! To the right is my fave picture of the whole night (Sez took them all, as my camera caught them all blurry – it’s more of “going out partying” camera then catching good concert shots!). They were so good though, so unlike many concerts I’ve been to where it’s all about costume changes and a big show… they were just there to play then music, and have a great time! The venue was really cool too, it was just like a club so it felt really personal, if that’s the right word. Afterwards was a bit of a nightmare, as Aaron was picking me up and Sarah’s dad was picking her up.. first of all Aaron couldn’t find it, and I had to guide him through Birmingham. Then Sarah’s dad had the same problem, after he’d already got stuck in traffic! But yeah in all, it was a great night. I’m going to see Hey Monday with Sian, Nick, Olivia, Kelly & Aaron next Saturday too – really looking forward to that, as it’s at the Wolverhampton Civic, so will be a tiny venue again. I didn’t really know about them at all until Sian was going on about them, and then on about concert tickets. I mainly said I’d go to the concert just for a night out of music, but after listening to their album I’m really excited now! Just need to remember to wear trainers this time, cos at The Script I had girlie flats on, which have no soal at all.. so my feet were killing before The Script were even onstage haha.

But yeah, going back to the start of the post… work has been mad, cos I had that Friday off. One day makes such a bad impact, so all week I’ve been catching up. Think I managed to slowly get back up-to date at the end of the week, so that’s a bit better but Sophie was off on Friday so I was covering a lot of her stuff too. Not good, but at least being busy at work has made the week go super fast. Aaron & I went out for a 2for1 meal on Thursday night too, cos one of the girls, Olivia, has left to go to Uni. It was quite awkward, mainly cos there was 3 little groups cos of who we hang out at work, but for other reasons as well.. that I can’t really post on here in the possiblity someone does stubble across this blog. Also seen my mom a couple of times, and my brother popped up when we got back on Thursday night too – haven’t seen him since my birthday at the end of August, so was nice to catch up a little.. he’s all loved up at the moment, so is never home when Aaron & I do our weekly routine of going to my mom’s for Sunday dinner!

In other news, Aaron is still looking for a job. He’s wanted out from where he is at the moment for a while, and without going into it too much for obvious reasons he only has a confirmed job at this place until the end of the year. There is a chance they’ll take him on permanent at that point, but as he doesn’t want to stay and there’s no guarantee he’s still desperately trying to look for something else. He’s got an interview on Thursday, so fingers crossed for that as the last promising one he had he didn’t hear back for ages – the girl who’d arranged his interview was on leave for 2 weeks straight after, she returned last week and replied to his many emails chasing to advise that the position had been cancelled. That was a bit of a let down, cos the place was really close and meant we wouldn’t have needed to get another car (as he has a comany car at the moment with the company he’s with). But apart from the job situation with Aaron, all is pretty good – we’re getting on fine, love living together, the cats are good .. and yeah life is generally good! I shall leave you with a picture of my babies:

Lucy & Lily

I realised it was time for a new blog, afterall I was still using livejournal and had posts on there going back to my first boyfriend back when I was 17! Times have changed, and decided I need to leave all that behind me It’s hard enough having to work with Richard, let alone having him still showing up on my blog under the most “tagged”.

So, for those of you who don’t know me… if anyone does actually ever read this? I’m Sarah, 22 and living in Telford, UK. I work full time (9am-5:30pm) for an ISP in Service Delivery/Provisioning. I’ve worked for the company for about 3.5 years, and gradually worked myself up to the position I’m in at the moment, after starting an NVQ skivvy. The job can get stressful at times, so I will more then likely have a whinge every now and again… although I will try not to, afterall I don’t get paid enough to bring the job home with me – not that that stops me half the time. I do like the job, and without sounding big headed I know I’m good at it. The people are the best too, sure we have our moments and there are 2 faced people like anywhere… but I’ve been there long enough now to know who I can trust, and who is genuinely my friend. Again, I’m sure there will be a few rants about that at some point during the life of this blog! I live in Telford about 5-10 mins away from work, and renting a house with my boyfriend Aaron, and have two gorgeous kittens Lucy & Lily. I live for the weekends, but don’t go out drinking & dancing with my mates as much as I’d like – bills to pay and all that. I do love having nights in with the man in my life though, just relaxing on the settee with a takeaway and DVD.

The guy I mentioned in the first paragraph, Richard… he’s my ex who I work with. We was together for 2 years before I met Aaron, my now boyfriend, and was pretty damn happy together. We was both living at home with our parents, and just generally enjoyed each other’s company. Looking back now, I know I wasn’t happy deep down with our life – we barely had a social life or any friends, it was just all about us, and that’s not what I want(ed). I realise now that I never thought he was “the one”. Whenever my mom used to ask me, I’d respond saying I don’t think you ever find the one cos you can think you love someone, fall out of love and meet someone else. Plus I genuinely think you can love a lot of people in your life time, although I do believe in sole mates. So, yeah, Richard… we have to work together, which isn’t ideal to say the least. We split up last December, and things have gradually got better. At least now he will help me with work related queries, where before he would make me ask anyone else but him. I would like us to be “work friends” one day, in the sense that we can smile, say hi and ask how each other is when we do have to communicated or pass each other in a corridor… but it hasn’t happened yet, and to be honest I can’t see it happening now. He very much thinks that I’m a bitch, that I cheated on him, and broke his heart. I guess some people would say that I cheated on him, but I only knew Aaron for a matter of days before I finished with Richard. All the people I asked for advice told me to keep seeing Aaron, and keep it from Richard, but I just couldn’t do that… cos to me THAT would be cheating. Maybe one day he’ll fall in love again, and realise why I did what I did.. why I finished a 2 year relationship for someone I’d only known a matter of days – not even a week. It was just meant to be.

Other people in my life, apart from the guys at work who I see a lot outside of work (Sophie, Sian, Nick & Sam mainly) would be my family and my best friend Sarah. Unfortunately Sarah moved away and now lives about 3 hours away, so we don’t see each other as much as either of us would like but we do try and meet up every few months. We tend to go to a lot of concerts together, the latest being The Script which was my birthday present from her. She’s definitely the kind of friend who you can go weeks, even months, without talking at all and when you do it’s like you spoke yesterday.

So yeah, in a nutshell.. that’s me. I will try not to whinge too much on this blog, but I will admit that from experience I tend to turn to blogging when I have something on my mind…

The proposed IT special economic zone (SEZ) at Taramani on the Old Mahabalipuram Road, to be developed jointly by the DLF and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), has run into rough weather with the union commerce ministry raising objection to the site, stating that it does not measure up to a contiguous stretch of 25 acres. The 26.64 acre land, which the DLF had bought from the Tamil Nadu government at Rs 26 crore per acre, is divided by the elevated railway track of the Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS). About three acres of land lies on one side of the track and the balance on the opposite side…. Read More

Los fabricantes líderes de aviones del mundo están mirando a Gujarat para establecer sus instalaciones de mantenimiento, reparación y revisión (MRO). Promotores de Gujarat Vittal Ciudad de la Innovación (GVIC en sus siglas en ingles), una Zona Económica Especial (SEZ en sus siglas en inglés) de Gujarat, dijeron que estaban en una fase avanzada de negociaciones con Airbus, Boeing y el Gobierno de Singapur para establecer instalaciones de MRO en el estado. Es probable que estas instalaciones MRO sean un cónclave de la industria aeroespacial y aviónica para la que los promotores del plan GVIC esperan construir 2.500 hectáreas en sus zonas económicas especiales.

“MRO puede convertirse en una actividad económica en torno a un tipo de cónclave aeroespacial. Con aproximadamente un 30% en defensa para India que probablemente suceda, es posible traer enormes pedidos para las instalaciones de MRO en el país,  además del diseño y la reparación para el mercado asiático. Además, el sur de Gujarat está a unos 10 minutos de vuelo de Mumbai, esta es un incentivo más para que los inversores creen sus instalaciones aquí. Estamos en conversaciones con Boeing, Airbus y el Gobierno de Singapur “, dijo Pankaj Saran de GVIC.

“La aviación es también una industria de alta cualificación y para crear esa cualificación estamos en conversaciones para crear una universidad de aviación, agregó. La SEZ es promovida conjuntamente por la Corporación de Desarrollo Industrial de Gujarat (GIDC en sus siglas en inglés), el Gobierno de Gujarat y el consorcio EMPI Centro Vittal INNOPOLIS, y está situada en una zona estratégica en el Corredor Industrial Mumbai-Delhi (DMIC en sus siglas en inglés) en el sur de Gujarat.

GVIC ha cerrado con el gobierno de Corea a través de la Corporación de Tierras de Corea (KLC en sus siglas en inglés) un plan de codesarrollo en esta zona económica especial. “KLC es responsable del desarrollo de casi el 70% de Corea. Ahora con ellos como nuestros socios podemos hacer lazos con más gobiernos interesados en participar en el proyecto. Los Gobiernos de Taiwán y Singapur también están explorando alianzas con nosotros “, añadió el Sr. Saran.

Según un informe reciente de Netscribes, el mercado de MRO en la India fue valorada en $ 970 millones en 2008. Sin embargo, se espera llegar a 1,17 mil millones dólares en 2010. En 2020, la India es probable que tengan el potencial de servicio de una flota de 1.000 aviones comerciales y 500 aeronaves de aviación general. El informe enumera la India como un centro MRO emergiendo rápidamente a nivel mundial debido a su bajo costo y su ubicación geográfica favorable. En la actualidad, la fuente de compañías nacionales de MRO sirve a los proveedores de estos servicios en Singapur y Europa. Singapur es uno de los mercados de MRO líder a nivel mundial. “Ellos están dispuestos a entrar en la India en este sector y se han dado cuenta que es ahí donde reside el potencial de crecimiento”, dijo Sharan.

Si bien el crecimiento del tráfico aéreo en la India, la mano de obra barata, el aumento de tamaño de la flota y la adquisición de material de defensa son incentivos claros para que los actores internacionales entren en el mercado; varias complicaciones de reglamentación han frenado la incursión de éstos en este segmento. “Un régimen fiscal elevado, así como los derechos de importación elevados para las piezas de repuesto y los altos costos de aterrizaje son una preocupación para las empresas interesados en establecer sus instalaciones de MRO en el país”, dijo Gagan Uppal, analista.

Fuente: Economic Times, 13/08/09